3 police officers, 1 state trooper shot in Texas standoff

MIDLOTHIAN, Texas- Three police officers and a state trooper were shot and wounded during a standoff at an apartment complex began with a broken window and stretched into the night, officials said.

Hundreds of people gathered around the two-story brick building, which was illuminated after nightfall Sunday by high powered lights, and bursts of gunfire punctuated the air throughout the evening. The standoff had been going on since at least 3:30 p.m. (2030 GMT).

Officers were initially called to the apartment complex because of a report of a broken window in this town about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of Dallas, Midlothian police said.

The officers determined the window had been broken by a gunshot and went to the apartment where they believed the shots had been fired. There, police said the gunman, Richard Miles, 25, opened fire.

Trooper Rick Smith was shot as he responded to the report of three officers being wounded, said Lisa Block, a Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman.

Miles later fired as officers tried to get a phone into the apartment so they could communicate with him. Officers don't know the motive for the shootings, Block said.

B.J. McClelland said she watched the scene unfold from her kitchen window.

"I saw them all fall down the stairs," she said of the officers.

McClelland said she saw Officer Cody McKinney warning ambulance workers as they tried to make their way to him. "Cody was telling them to get away and not come by the window," she said.